STL on the Air 📻

A few years ago, Steven Webster was working in Washington and frequently giving tours of the U.S. Capitol when one particular tour went rather south, to put it mildly – and also sparked his decision to study political science.

Host Don Marsh talks with local media professionals about how the industry covers African-American communities – what has changed over the years and what's stayed the same.

With a growing sector of America having left traditional religion in recent decades, speculation about the reasons for that exit is common, as are easy conclusions about what it all portends. But it's all a bit more complex. James Croft, outreach director for the Ethical Society of St. Louis, and Leigh Schmidt, the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities at Washington University, share their insights in this episode.

Kevin McKinney, executive director of SLACO – the St. Louis Association of Community Organizations, and local photojournalist Richard Reilly talk to host Don Marsh about how community organizing has evolved in the St. Louis region over the past 40 years.

STLPR reporter Chad Davis asks more listener questions about Better Together's proposal to representatives of the organization. The report was released on Monday.

Pat Kelly of the Municipal League of Metro St. Louis and Creve Coeur Mayor Barry Glantz outline why they are opposed to Better Together’s approach and suggest an alternative route to a potential shift in regional governance.

Host Don Marsh and St. Louis Public Radio listeners talk with two staff members from Better Together, the organization that earlier this week formally unveiled a much-anticipated proposal for a reunification of St. Louis and St. Louis County.

Sunday marked the international community’s commemoration of lives lost and tragedy caused during the Holocaust. Although it took place more than 70 years ago, its lessons continue to resonate today. Dan Reich, curator and director of education at the Holocaust Museum & Learning Center, survivor Rachel Miller join host Don Marsh to discuss how the younger generations will continue to tell the stories of those who experienced the Holocaust as survivors pass away. Miller, who now resides in Chesterfield, Missouri, also shares her own harrowing story of living through the Nazi occupation.

Evy Swoboda and Dakota Williams are both still in their 20s, yet they've already made big strides in the St. Louis restaurant scene. They join host Don Marsh and Sauce magazine's Heather Hughes for a conversation.

Although wintry skies in the St. Louis region didn’t make for ideal viewing conditions Sunday night as the sun, Earth and moon aligned for a total lunar eclipse, the anticipated celestial event still had many people looking skyward. It also sparked renewed interest in human understanding of the moon. In this segment, space journalist Rebecca Boyle, lunar scientist Brad Jolliff and St. Louis Public Radio’s own Eli Chen discuss the latest in moon research.

The St. Louis Theater Circle released its 2019 award nominees on Friday's St. Louis on the Air for locally produced professional theater in 2018. This is the seventh year of the awards. Judith Newmark, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s theater critic, and Mark Bretz, president of the St. Louis Theater Circle, join host Don Marsh to discuss the nominations and the upcoming award ceremony.

St. Louis Public Radio reporter Chad Davis talks with host Don Marsh about his recent coverage of how the partial government shutdown has been affecting a wide variety of St. Louis-area residents.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger talks with Don Marsh about his reporting series on debtors' prisons in rural Missouri – the practice of jailing people for not paying their court fines. 

A recent report surveyed low-income women in St. Louis and found that nearly two-thirds of them can’t always afford pads or tampons – often resorting to rags, diapers or paper towels. Host Don Marsh delves deeper into the issue of period poverty with Anne Sebert Kuhlmann, associate professor of behavioral science and health education at St. Louis University, who led the study. Also joining the conversation are Angie Weisman, executive director of Dignity Period, and Jessica Adams, executive director of St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies and the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank.

St. Louis on the Air’s first monthly Legal Roundtable of the year returns as host Don Marsh delves into a variety of recent local and national stories pertaining to the law, including: a federal judge's ruling that blocks the Trump administration's plan to add a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 census, a federal court ruling that deemed the Affordable Care Act health plans unconstitutional, the lawsuit against the Sunset Hills retirement community Friendship Village and the appointment of Circuit Judge Robin Ransom to the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District.

Arlene Zarembka, who is a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the case against Friendship Village, and Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Missouri, discuss the context and implications of a circuit judge's recent dismissal of the suit.

Ken Page, whose career took him from The Muny to Broadway and the big screen, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the local Arts and Education Council. Host Don Marsh talks to Page about his expansive career, which ranges from creating the character of Old Deuteronomy in the Broadway debut of the iconic musical “Cats” to voicing Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton’s film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Snow, ice, streets and St. Louis – it all tends to make for a tricky wintry mix, as was evident last weekend when a major snowstorm hit the region. With the potential for additional winter weather now imminent, this episode focuses on why some St. Louisans drive poorly in such conditions – and how residents can better prepare for and deal with future weather events. Joining the discussion are Kent Flake, commissioner of streets for the City of St. Louis, and Mike Right, vice president of public affairs for AAA of Missouri.

Despite a winter weather advisory, the St. Louis Women’s March is still set to take place 10 a.m. Jan. 18 in downtown St. Louis. Host Don Marsh previews the march with two of this year’s local organizers and marchers: Lauren Kohn Davis and Heather Fleming. This year's event also includes an "action fair” that will house various organizations in the community helping women.

STLPR science reporter Eli Chen previews the total lunar eclipse.